April 19, 2024
NASHVILLE (BP) – Members of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee voted Tuesday to propose a change in the timeline for submitting and publishing resolutions to be voted on by messengers at SBC annual meetings.
Richard Spring, chairman of the Committee on Convention Missions and Ministry, said many SBC messengers felt they weren't being given enough time to review proposed resolutions.
The proposal now will go to messengers at next year's SBC annual meeting for consideration.
Under current rules, resolutions can be submitted as early as April 15 and as late as 15 days before the start of the annual meeting. The 10 members of the SBC Resolutions Committee, appointed each year by the SBC president, then meet a few days prior to the annual meeting to go over submitted resolutions. They prepare the ones they wish to submit to messengers and may also draft their own. Their submissions are published for the first time in the daily bulletin on the first day of the annual meeting.
The proposed change would allow resolutions to be submitted as early as April 1 but no later than 20 days prior to the start of the annual meeting. It would also require the SBC Resolutions Committee to meet well in advance of the annual meeting, release an initial report no later than 10 days prior, and then publish a final report in the first day’s bulletin.
